Manfred Weber, leader of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, commented in Buitenhof said that the latest visit of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel to Ankara ended in a diplomatic failure.

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and EU Council President Charles Michel took their seats on two side-by-side armchairs and the Commission President had to sit on a sofa at a considerable distance. 

Following the incident which attracted reactions from international community, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that Erdoğan's behavior was inappropriate. “This was behavior that I disliked very much because of the humiliation suffered by the president of the EU Commission, von der Leyen," said the former head of the European Central Bank (ECB). With "these, let's call them by name - dictators," one must speak a clear language and express the differences in ideas about society,” he said. But one must also be prepared to cooperate with them in the interest of the country, Draghi said. The right balance is needed, he said.

The chairman of EPP Group stated that the visit of EU-presidents to Turkey ended in a diplomatic failure and demanded that all talks about joining the EU should be stopped.

'Turkey cannot become member of the EU,” he said.